


Karina Potter Aunt Marauder

by Hannah_Hatter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 00:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11346042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannah_Hatter/pseuds/Hannah_Hatter
Summary: Karina wasn't just anybody during her days at Hogwarts. She was a fellow Marauder, James's little sister, Foxtrot, and eventually, Sirius's girlfriend. They ruled the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and continued to succeed far past then.Until that faithful night the Dark Lord came along, and Karina found herself with only one task.Raising Harry Potter





	1. Chapter 1

A figure dressed in a dark cloak made its way up the steps of the Potter household. It pushed the door open slowly, and James stood in front of Harry, his wand brandished, ready to fight.

"Who are you?" He demanded, unable to see their face. 

"Your worst nightmare." Came a scratchy voice from underneath, and then a terrible screech filled the living room as the cloak flew off to reveal...

"Karina!" James exclaimed, exasperated as Karina, his younger sister, laughed loudly. 

"You should have seen your face!" She chortled, her face turning bright red. "I got you good, Prongsie!" James rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He couldn't really be mad at her for doing as he taught her.

"What are you doing by here anyway, Foxtrot?" He asked, using her Marauder nickname. "Weren't you and Sirius going out tonight?" She nodded.

"Yeah, but I thought I'd pop by and wish my brother and his family a Happy Halloween! And give my favourite nephew a Chocolate Frog!" Lily laughed from behind James.

"Rina, Harry's teeth are still coming in! He can't eat candy!" 

"He can suck on the Chocolate Frogs!" Karina told her, when she saw Harry standing up and holding onto the coffee table. "There's my little Pronglette!" She cooed, handing him a frog. Harry laughed and took the frog, immediately beginning to drool on it. Lily laughed again.

"I'll be right back! I have to get changed!" She was covered in flour. 

"Oh don't worry about it, Lils!" She told her, sitting down on the couch. "Sirius is off checking on Remus, so I've got a little while." That was when a lynx Patronus appeared in the room, and Kingsley Shacklebolt's booming voice came through.

"Karina, there were more attacks. We're going to need your help." Karina sighed, then created her own Patronus.

"I'll be there in a moment. I'm with James." Then she sent the fox off, the lynx disappearing. "And I will be back as soon as I take care of this." James nodded.

"Yeah, you'd better go. We'll just wait here." Karina heard his downtrodden tone, and knew that he hated being stuck at the house while You-Know-Who was hunting them down. She wished she could make her big brother feel better like she used too. A good joke and a prank on Snape always cheered him up. But she stood.

"I'll be back. Hang in there, Prongs." Then she apparated to Kingsley, who was in the village by Hogsmeade. "Who is it this time, Kingsley?" 

"The Warpers. They were Muggles. Their twins showed magic a few years back and they moved here to be closer." Karina stared at the Dark Mark that was above the house, clenching her fists. "Not only that. The Eveneers were taken down, and two more families." Karina turned her head to face him.  
"The Eveneers?" She asked, mildly astonished. "But they were pureblood! Whyt would they attack them? " Shacklebolt shrugged.

"Merlin only knows." She sighed, then looked around.

"Where's Peter? Sirius is out with Remus right now, I know that."

"If anything, Peter should be on his way. He's always late for these sorts of things." Karina nodded.

"Right, and I'll bet Arthur's busy with his lot and anyone else is at Hogwarts." That was when Karina got a weird feeling, and looked around. Shacklebolt noticed and readied his wand.

"Karina, what is it?" 

"I've got a bad feeling. Something's wrong." Shacklebolt became concerned. "What if the Eveneers were killed for a reason? Like... A distraction?" 

"Perhaps you should check on the Potters. Make sure nothing happened." Karina nodded, then apparated back to Godric's Hollow. She ran into the house, and gasped in horror when she saw the house in shambles and James lying on the ground, dead! 

"James!" She cried, then she heard something else. Someone else was crying.

"Not Harry! Please not Harry!" Lily! 

"Step aside, foolish girl!" Voldemort! And she could hear Harry sobbing too. 

"Lily! Harry!" She ran up the stairs, the world seeming to be in slow motion as she heard Voldemort shout,

"Avada Kedavra!" And heard Lily's dying scream. Then she heard him shout it again, and came in as the green light flashed, and she was nearly blinded. When she looked back, Voldemort was gone, and the only people in the room were Lily's dead body, and Harry, who still cried in his crib! Karina ran over to him, taking him in her arms, crying at the sight of him.

"Oh Harry! Sweet Harry!" She cried, before taking a shuddering breath and crouching before Lily. "I promise you Lily." She said softly, brushing her sister in law's hair out of her face. "Even if it means my own death, I will take care of Harry. I won't let anything happen to him." Then she stood and walked out of the room, taking Harry with her and saying a last goodbye to James, only bending down to close his glassy eyes.

MARAUDER

Karina brought Harry home and tried to sooth him as he sobbed. 

"Oh, Harry." She whispered, feeling tears prick her eyes again. "If only I could make your pain go away. You've only known your parents for so long. I've known your parents almost our entire lives, and I'm telling you now that I am certain that there is nowhere that they'd rather be than right here, comforting you." Knock knock knock! Someone was at the door. Karina quickly went to the door and used her foot to open it, revealing Hagrid at the door.

"Karina." He greeted. She smiled at him, trying to appear okay, but a tear fell from her eye and Harry was only now calming down from sobbing to whimpering. 

"Hello, Hagrid. What brings you here?" She asked him. Hagrid looked a little somber.

"I uh, I, er..." Karina set the now sleeping Harry onto the couch and surrounding him with pillows so that he wouldn't fall off.

"Hagrid? What is it? Spit it out, already!" Hagrid sighed slowly. 

"Well, Professor Dumbledore asked me to bring young Harry to his Muggle aunt and uncle, to live with them until he's old enough to go to Hogwarts."

"Lily's sister?" Karina gasped, remembering the Christmas she had spent with Lily the one year. 

Her sister, Petunia, had been an absolute nightmare! She called her and Lily freaks all the time and constantly told Lily that she didn't belong at home. She had also only met Petunia's husband, Vernon, once. It was a day after their wedding, and she, James, and Lily had gone to give them a late wedding gift, since they weren't invited to the wedding. James hadn't wanted to go, but Lily insisted on attempting to be on good terms with her sister. 

Of course, however, Vernon had hated them at once. At first, he hadn't let them into the house, then took out the vase that they had bought them and smashed it to little smithereens and refused to allow James to use Reparo to fix it and take it home, then kicked them out of the house. Petunia herself had simply been nervous the whole time. James had tried to shake her hand and she had jumped away from him as if he was handing her a bomb. And when Karina had accidentally tripped over the rug in the front room and hit her shin on the coffee table, Petunia had screamed so loud, their neighbor, Miss Figg came over to tell them that she had disturbed her cats.

"You want to send Harry over to those horrible people!?" She exclaimed. "Never! Never, in a thousand years! I'll stand before the Minister of Magic himself and tell him that I myself will become a Squib before sending Harry to them!" Hagrid sighed again.

"Well, maybe not the Minister of Magic, but Dumbledore is probably gonna show up." 

"Let him show up!" Karina told him. "Because when he does, I'll be ready for him! I'm not sending Harry to live with those awful people when we both know that legally, if anything happened to Lily and James, Harry was going to come to live with me, his aunt, and Sirius, his godfather and future uncle!" Hagrid nodded, looking nervous. "So, you go ahead and tell Dumbledore, or McGonagall, or whoever is waiting to collect my nephew and take him to the Muggles, they're going to have to go through me!" Hagrid nodded again, almost rolling his eyes.

"I'll let them know."

MARAUDER

Later that night, Karina had managed to put together a makeshift cradle out of a laundry basket, two blankets, and eight pillows and lay Harry down for the night, just as she heard someone Floo Powder downstairs! 

She ran down as fast as she could, shutting her bedroom door softly. When she got downstairs, she saw Dumbledore and McGonagall standing in her living room. She stood straight, blocking the upstairs.

"Let me guess. You've come to take Harry from me?" McGonagall sighed.

"Miss Potter, please-"

"No!" Karina interrupted her. "Harry is my nephew, and if you think that you are going to take him away from me, then you are sorely mistaken, professor!" 

"Miss Potter, please!" McGonagall shouted. "Let Albus speak." She looked to Dumbledore. "Albus." Dumbledore nodded to her, then went over to Karina, who's hands were balled in fists. 

"Where is he, Karina?" He asked.

"Like I'm going to tell you!" She growled, standing her ground. "You're just going to take him away from me!"

"Please, Karina. I would never dream of taking Harry away from you. You are one of the little family he has left. And though I have my reasons for Harry growing up away from the magic world, I doubt that there is the slightest possibility of me getting him away from you." Karina unballed her fists. "Now, where is he?" She sighed slowly.

"He's upstairs, sleeping in a laundry basket. Its only temporary until Sirius gets back and can help me get his crib from the house." McGonagall looked to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's eyes went to the ground. "What?" She asked them, worried. No response. "What's happened to Sirius?" 

"Sirius... Is to be taken to Azkaban." Karina nearly fainted.

"What?" Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes. I'm afraid he has been charged with the murder of numerous Muggles, including his once good friend, Peter Pettigrew." Karina fell back, astonished.

"No. That's not true! Sirius won't never..." Dumbledore crouched down and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid it is. He was seen surrounded by the dead and was taken away immediately. It took many to capture him." That was when Karina noticed a folded piece of paper in his hand, and ripped it away from him.

"Miss Potter, I wouldn't-" McGonagall tried to stop her, but Karina opened it anyway, and saw a picture of Sirius, holding a sign with his prisoner number, fighting and shouting as men held him back. Tears filled Karina's eyes as she read his angry lips.

"I was framed! It wasn't me! I need to get to Karina and Harry! Karina!" She crumpled up the poster and threw it into the fireplace, starting a fire with her wand so that the poster caught fire, tears pouring from her eyes.

"Get. Out." She growled at the two professors. "Get out of my house! Leave me alone!" Dumbledore and McGonagall looked to each other, then apparated out of the room, leaving Karina to fall to her knees and sob. She'd just lost both her brother, her sister-in-law, her fiance, and one of her good friends in one night.


	2. Chapter 2

The first few days were tough for Karina and Harry. On top of not quite being sure how to care for a baby, she took it upon herself in arranging James and Lily's funerals. 

Unfortunately, there wasn't any family on either side that could attend the funeral, apart from Petunia and her family, although Vernon strictly told Karina that they would not go to such an event, Petunia had no dead sister, and that they had no idea who Karina was and that she needed to stay out of their lives. 

Karina however, did invite who she could from the Order, as well as all the Weasleys. They were going to hold it at Karina's house, then apparate to Godric's Hollow for the burial. 

If Karina hadn't had Remus to help her, she would have quite possibly burst into flames. She'd caught him changing back, just outside of her back fence, and she brought him in the house, filling him in on what had happened over cups of tea and a warm fire, while Harry played with some blocks that Karina had brought from Godric's Hollow. And at the moment, Karina couldn't tell who was talking care of who. She burst into tears halfway through and Remus wrapped his arm around her, comforting her.

"Rina, its going to be okay." He shushed her, holding her close.

"Remus, they're dead!" She sobbed. "How is it going to be okay when James, Lily, and Peter are all dead and Sirius is in Azkaban?" He shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know. But, you should at least try to look at the bright side of things. You, Harry, and I are all still here. Voldemort didn't get us. Harry didn't have to go and grow up with Muggles. We'll be alright." She sniffed, and nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. After all, it could be worse." That was when Harry came toddling over and fell against Karina and Remus's knees.

'"Mama?" He said, cocking his head, confused why they were so sad. "Dada?" Karina smiled and shook her head, lifting Harry in between them. 

"No, sweet Harry." She whispered. "I may try, but I can never replace your Mummy. Try, Aunt Karina."

"Reeee-nuh?" Harry drew out, making them laugh, then making him laugh. "Mama!" 

"Well, I'm not Daddy." Remus told him. "I'm Uncle Moony. Give that a go." 

"Unca Moo-ey?" Harry repeated, making them laugh again. "Moo-ey! Moo-ey!" Then he looked around, and looked back at the two. "Pafoo?" Karina's laughter petered out. "Paddy pafoo!" Harry squealed happily. Karina just hugged him and Remus closer.

"Padfoot's gone, Harry." She whispered. "Its just us, now." Remus hugged her tightly, listening as the fire crackled.

MARAUDERS

Soon, the funeral came.

The guests arrived at two o' clock, and Karina greeted them at the door. Well, Karina and Harry, who was dressed in a little tuxedo wunsie that Karina had planned to give him on his second birthday. 

"Molly! There you are!" She exclaimed, running to her red haired, child surrounded friend. "Oh, its been too long!" Molly hugged her back.

"Its good to see you, dear!" Then she gestured behind her to where Arthur held a small one year old boy in his arms and was watching two three year olds run around him while a five and eight year old bickered. The oldest at ten years old appeared to be trying to look adult.

"My goodness!" Karina exclaimed. "Are these those pudgy little Weasley babies? These tall, gangly things?" Molly laughed, before tousling the two closest to her's hair.

"Of course! This ones Bill, and this is Charlie. There's Percy, Fred, George, and that there's little Ron!" She pointed to each child as she named them. Karina smiled at them.

"Bill, Charlie, and Percy. I haven't seen the three of you since you were this small!" She held her hand about a foot over the ground. "And now look at you! You're going to outgrow your mum you are! And you two," she turned to the twins, Fred and George. "I haven't seen you two since you were Ron's size! Just two little pudgy babies! Course," she looked around, then leaned in to whisper loudly to George. "Fred was a bit pudgier." Fred pouted, but George laughed at his brother as Karina moved on to the final Weasley boy. "And I haven't even met you! Arthur, let me at him!" Arthur obligingly handed over Ron to Karina, who smothered his cheeks in kisses, making him giggle. Then she looked back at Arthur and held out her other arm. "Now come here, Muggle-lover! I haven't hugged you yet!" Arthur chuckled, but went in for the hug, just as Harry ran across the lawn, passing them.

"Oh, Karina!" Molly laughed as Harry made a break for it. Karina gave Ron back to Arthur hurriedly.

"Remus! You were supposed to keep an eye on him!" Karina called, racing after Harry before he hit the street, just as Mad-Eye Moody apparated in front of him and scooped him up into his arms. 

"Now where do you think you're heading, squirt?" He teased in his gruff voice, making Harry giggle. Karina ran over and took Harry from him, sighing with relief.

"Thank you so much, Alastor!" She told him. Mad-Eye shrugged. 

"Hey, can't let the little blighter get hit by something. Not quite the suburban neighborhood out here, Potter." She gave him a look.

"Suburbs make my skin crawl! Out here, you can breathe and practice magic without care! And if a Muggle comes by, they think that they've been driving too long to worry about it!" Mad-Eye shook his head, but followed everyone back into the house, where they all sat in the living room and ate the hor deveurs that Karina had laid out and were chatting with each other. She thought it the perfect time to say what needed to be said, so she tapped on a glass to get everyone's attention.

"Excuse me, everyone?" Everyone silenced down, and she caught eyes with Professor Dumbledore, who smiled at her encouragingly. He and Professor McGonagall had taken an emergency leave for the day to come to the funeral. 

Karina cleared her throat. "I, suppose you know why we're gathered here today, on this sad occasion. Because, three of our dear friends, have been struck down by Lord Voldemort, and one has supposedly betrayed us for him. 

"James, Lily, and Peter were three of my dearest friends, James being my brother. He sacrificed himself to save Lily and Harry, by facing Voldemort wand less. And Lily died to protect Harry, who somehow managed to get rid of Lord Voldemort once and for all. And Peter, dear, sweet, timid little Peter, was murdered. I know, that it was said that Sirius Black had betrayed us, and killed him along with a load of Muggles, but for the sake of the funeral, I will not, go into it." She sniffed, wiping away a tear. "We shall never forget, what they have done for us." She raised her glass. "To James, Lily, and Peter." And Sirius she thought to herself. 

Everyone raised their glass along with her.  
"To our friends." Was repeated, and everyone drank.

"To the Potters, and Peter." Remus said, before taking his drink. 

"And to the Longbottoms." Mad-Eye called. "For they were struck down two nights ago. A Death Eater called Bellatrix Lestrange tortured them, and they are now in St. Mungo's. They leave behind their own son, Neville, and a legacy that shall never be forgotten." They all raised their glasses a second time.

"To the Longbottoms." Then they called it a night.


	3. Chapter 3

As the days went by, Karina had managed to keep the news of Harry apparently defeating the Dark Lord hushed up, saying that he must have gone into hiding of some sort. The Order helped her, and she was able to balance keeping her job as an Auror while raising Harry. With a little help from Remus, who was unable to get a job with werewolf hours and would babysit Harry when Karina needed him to. 

"Hey, Rina, its me." Remus called, coming into the house nearly a month after the funeral. "Full moon's coming soon, and I got a letter from Dumbledore about this thing called a Wolfsbane Potion that could help me control myself more during the week. I was hoping I could hang around here while I used it..." Then he noticed her putting a coat on Harry. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to see Mrs. Longbottom." She told him. "Frank Longbottom's mother? She's planning on taking in her grandson, Neville, I thought that I would go and see her. Make sure she's doing okay. That's okay, isn't it?" Remus nodded.

"Of course it is. You go ahead, I'll just stick around here for a little while, if that's alright." She nodded, picking up Harry and throwing the diaper bag over her shoulder.

"Well of course it is. You know where you are and aren't allowed." Then she Apparated away to the Longbottom house and knocked on the front door. "Mrs. Longbottom? Its me, Karina Potter? I went to school and worked with Frank and Alice, if you recall." Then a grisly old woman appeared at the door, a crying one year old behind her. She pointed a gnarled finger at Karina.

"You! Don't you be bringing another one around here!" She scolded, pointing at Harry. "I've had enough of just my own grandson here! I don't need the Potters' kid here too!" Karina furrowed her eyebrows.

"Mrs. Longbottom, you should know that I am taking care of Harry. I merely came over to see how you and Neville were doing." Mrs. Longbottom's face went soft, then she burst into tears! "Oh, no!" Karina quickly hurried into the house and shut the door behind her, then hurriedly handed Neville and Harry some building blocks that were on the coffee table to hush them up, then sat down with Mrs. Longbottom. "Poor dear, what's the trouble?" The older woman snivelled.

"Oh, I'm just an old woman going through a rough patch." She said. "I mean, I've been left with my grandson while my son and daughter-in-law can't remember who they are, or anything else, and its been difficult coping..." Mrs. Longbottom began to cry again, and Karina patted her back. 

"Oh, dear, its alright!" 

"How can you say that?" She asked. "You must have it worse! Your brother, sister-in-law, murdered by You-Know-Who in one night, then he vanishes off, leaving you with questioning press! And of course, your fiancé murdering one of your best friends and being taken to Azkaban, leaving you with the baby! You must be going through harder times than anyone, dear!" Karina nodded, listening to the old woman's words.

"I know. This is a tough time for me. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't wish that I could see James, Lily, and Peter. And there isn't a day that goes by when I don't wish Sirius wasn't a Death Eater." Which he isn't. She thought to herself. "But, I keep going. I see James and Lily in Harry every day, and I know that everything is okay. And Remus always comes down to visit us, to make sure we're all right. I've got a roof over my head, food on my plate, and my beautiful nephew to watch over." Mrs. Longbottom stared at her in wonder, then sighed. 

"You're a very extraordinary woman, Potter. I almost want to give you Neville to take care of. You'd do it so much better." Karina smiled.

"I'd love to take in Neville, but I think you should give it a go. Look for Frank and Alice in him, and enjoy having your grandson around while he's still young. And, if you think you can't handle him, if you think "Good God, if I have to listen to this child babbling any longer, I will scream", then send him my way. We have plenty of space, and I think Harry would love to have a brother." Mrs. Longbottom looked to her grandson and Harry playing together, and smiled, then nodded.

"Alright. I'll give it a go." She told Karina, who patted her back. 

"Atta girl." 

MARAUDERS

The two talked for another hour or two, until both boys became bored with each other and started poking at them, trying to get their attention. Karina and Mrs. Longbottom laughed, then Karina picked up Harry and her wand.

"Well, we'd better get going. I left Remus back at the house and he'll start to wonder what happened to us and get all worried." Mrs. Longbottom smiled.

"That Lupin is so protective of you, its adorable!" Karina blushed.

"Well, he's like an older brother to me. He always has been." Mrs. Longbottom raised an eyebrow.

"Just an older brother?" Karina's cheeks turned even more red before she Apparated back home, where she found Remus sitting in a chair, reading. But when he saw Karina and Harry, he stood up at once.

"Karina? Why are your cheeks so red?" She shook her head, handing him Harry.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. I just need to go cool off." Then she hurried to the bathroom, where she splashed her face with water in the sink. Just an older brother indeed!


End file.
